Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review

BackgroundIncreasing digital technology and media use among young people has raised concerns about problematic use and negative consequences. The formal recognition of a technology addiction (eg, gaming disorder) requires an understanding of the landscape of interventions des...

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Main Authors: Michelle Colder Carras, Dahlia Aljuboori, Jing Shi, Mayank Date, Fatima Karkoub, Karla García Ortiz, Fasika Molla Abreha, Johannes Thrul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Medical Internet Research
Online Access:https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e59968
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author Michelle Colder Carras
Dahlia Aljuboori
Jing Shi
Mayank Date
Fatima Karkoub
Karla García Ortiz
Fasika Molla Abreha
Johannes Thrul
author_facet Michelle Colder Carras
Dahlia Aljuboori
Jing Shi
Mayank Date
Fatima Karkoub
Karla García Ortiz
Fasika Molla Abreha
Johannes Thrul
author_sort Michelle Colder Carras
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundIncreasing digital technology and media use among young people has raised concerns about problematic use and negative consequences. The formal recognition of a technology addiction (eg, gaming disorder) requires an understanding of the landscape of interventions designed to prevent this disorder and related technology addictions. ObjectiveWe conducted a rapid systematic review to investigate the current evidence on approaches to prevent problematic technology use and promote digital well-being, defined as the healthy use of digital media and technology and the absence of problems resulting from excessive use. MethodsWe used a pragmatic and rapid approach to systematically review and synthesize recent literature with a focus on contextual factors that can aid in understanding translatability, making trade-offs appropriate for rapid reviews per the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. We searched multiple databases, including gray literature, for primary studies and systematic reviews of prevention interventions targeting children, adolescents, and youth. We extracted data on study characteristics, quality, and translatability and synthesized evidence through narrative description and vote counting of controlled trials. Data are openly available on our Open Science Framework website. ResultsWe found 6416 citations, of which 41 (0.64%) were eligible for inclusion (6 reviews and 35 primary studies of 33 interventions). Most interventions (26/33, 79%) combined intervention approaches and included an education component. Synthesis through vote counting showed benefits for all forms of digital well-being. Both included meta-analyses reported small positive effects on reductions of screen time. However, study reporting was overall lacking, impairing the ability to draw conclusions. ConclusionsAs digital technology use increases, interventions to prevent problematic technology use and promote digital well-being continue to proliferate. Understanding context factors that influence healthy technology use and understanding the limitations of the current evidence are vital for informing future research. This review demonstrates positive findings for the effectiveness of prevention interventions and describes factors that may contribute to translation and implementation. Future research would benefit from following appropriate reporting guidelines, reporting both the benefits and harms of interventions, and including greater detail on factors informing translation. Trial RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42023444387; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=444387
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spelling doaj-art-2e4e8877dc9e443c8441b778cc5989b02025-08-20T02:52:44ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712024-12-0126e5996810.2196/59968Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic ReviewMichelle Colder Carrashttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0750-524XDahlia Aljuboorihttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-4717-957XJing Shihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7156-8128Mayank Datehttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-0863-5428Fatima Karkoubhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-1889-9040Karla García Ortizhttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-6904-0580Fasika Molla Abrehahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5276-203XJohannes Thrulhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8929-9579 BackgroundIncreasing digital technology and media use among young people has raised concerns about problematic use and negative consequences. The formal recognition of a technology addiction (eg, gaming disorder) requires an understanding of the landscape of interventions designed to prevent this disorder and related technology addictions. ObjectiveWe conducted a rapid systematic review to investigate the current evidence on approaches to prevent problematic technology use and promote digital well-being, defined as the healthy use of digital media and technology and the absence of problems resulting from excessive use. MethodsWe used a pragmatic and rapid approach to systematically review and synthesize recent literature with a focus on contextual factors that can aid in understanding translatability, making trade-offs appropriate for rapid reviews per the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. We searched multiple databases, including gray literature, for primary studies and systematic reviews of prevention interventions targeting children, adolescents, and youth. We extracted data on study characteristics, quality, and translatability and synthesized evidence through narrative description and vote counting of controlled trials. Data are openly available on our Open Science Framework website. ResultsWe found 6416 citations, of which 41 (0.64%) were eligible for inclusion (6 reviews and 35 primary studies of 33 interventions). Most interventions (26/33, 79%) combined intervention approaches and included an education component. Synthesis through vote counting showed benefits for all forms of digital well-being. Both included meta-analyses reported small positive effects on reductions of screen time. However, study reporting was overall lacking, impairing the ability to draw conclusions. ConclusionsAs digital technology use increases, interventions to prevent problematic technology use and promote digital well-being continue to proliferate. Understanding context factors that influence healthy technology use and understanding the limitations of the current evidence are vital for informing future research. This review demonstrates positive findings for the effectiveness of prevention interventions and describes factors that may contribute to translation and implementation. Future research would benefit from following appropriate reporting guidelines, reporting both the benefits and harms of interventions, and including greater detail on factors informing translation. Trial RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42023444387; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=444387https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e59968
spellingShingle Michelle Colder Carras
Dahlia Aljuboori
Jing Shi
Mayank Date
Fatima Karkoub
Karla García Ortiz
Fasika Molla Abreha
Johannes Thrul
Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review
Journal of Medical Internet Research
title Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review
title_full Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review
title_fullStr Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review
title_full_unstemmed Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review
title_short Prevention and Health Promotion Interventions for Young People in the Context of Digital Well-Being: Rapid Systematic Review
title_sort prevention and health promotion interventions for young people in the context of digital well being rapid systematic review
url https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e59968
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